One of the rules of being booed is to share some October activities or books that you have been using in class this month. On Tuesday, with Halloween almost here, I read them Where the Wild Things Are.
We had just finished up an author study on Normal Bridwell of the always fun Clifford books. These kids knew these books inside and out and how they were alike and different.
After reading Where the Wild Things Are, we had a conversation about how this book was alike and different from the Clifford books. At first glance you might think that these books would make a strange pairing for compare and contrast, but the kids got so into it and were able to think deeply about them and not come up with surface level comparisons.
Almost immediately the kids thought of that there was one person who did both jobs of author/illustrator and that both Clifford and Max had bad habits. I love watching and listening to these kids think!
For my older students, I read them The Great Pumpkin Switch. This books sparks GREAT conversations about what students would do if they found themselves in the same situation as the boys in the story. The boys accidently smash the girl’s pumpkin that she is growing and switch it out with another pumpkin that she didn’t grow. We talked about if it was right for them to not tell her and switch it. On one hand if they tell, she will probably cry but they will be being honest. If they don’t tell, she doesn’t cry but will gets rewards for a pumpkin she didn’t grow. We discussed both sides and voted. Second graders mostly said they would be honest even if it made her cry. My third graders (which happened to be all boys) and some second graders thought differently. They did not want to make the girl cry so there was no way they were telling even if it was a bit dishonest. I enjoy having these deep conversations with students and gaining their perspective on how they see the world!
Tammy says
I'd never seen the double bubble map until a few weeks ago. Where have I been? Anyway, thanks for letting me boo you and for sharing the deep things your kids do when they're in your room. π
β Tammy
Forever in First
Barbara says
I never would have thought of comparing those two books. You've given me something to think about π
βBarbaraβ
Grade ONEderful
Ruby Slippers Blog Designs
lorivines4 says
Tammy, I am new to the double bubble map this year too. But I like it!
lorivines4 says
Barbara, the comparison of these 2 books happened by accident. We had just finished the author study and I knew I wanted to read Where the Wild Things Are for Halloween week. I wanted to see if the kids would come up with what we have been studying and they did and more so! One student even mentioned that Clifford had a lot of books (series) and wanted to know if The Wild Things had more. I loved how he came up with that for a comparison all by himself and is a struggling reader!
Andrea says
I love the Double Bubble map and would never have thought to compare the two books. Thanks for the shout out!
Andrea
Reading Toward the Stars
lorivines4 says
You are welcome, Andrea! Thanks for coming by my blog!